Krystal couldn't help but admire the many tapestries and scrolls hanging from the
walls. Every inch of the house gave off a distinct, strict holy vibe. She was sure she'd
like it. "We're very serious about stuff," Tsuki murmured, noticing Krystal's gaze.
Hina, who was walking behind them said, "Yeah, we work really hard and sometimes we
get punished when big sister-"
"Hina! Don't talk about such things in front of Krystal..." Tsuki admonished. Hina
gave her a sheepish smile and Krystal tried not to giggle. How cute - Tsuki trying to be a
big sister. They finally arrived at a guest room for Krystal to put down her stuff.
"I assume you're not going to stay with us permanently, but we'll often ask you to
stay over. Plus, you may want a nap," Tsuki said, with a knowing smile. Hina also grinned
and for a second, something seemed off.
"Thank you - I appreciate you taking me in so warmly," Krystal said, taking her sword
with her. Hina spotted the weapon and asked, "May I see that?"
Tsuki gave her a disapproving look, but Krystal handed it to her. The young girl
studied the weapon closely as they headed down the hall into a meeting room. "Alright,"
Tsuki said, sitting cross legged at a low table. She pulled out a notebook and a pencil,
looking at Krystal expectantly.
Hina, on the other hand, set down the sword. "That's a very, very good holy weapon you
have!" Krystal smiled at her. "Thank you!"
Tsuki smiled as well before saying, "Krystal, I need to know how much you actually
know and what you need to improve on." She passed the notebook and pencil to her. "Can you
write down all the seals you know off the top of your head?"
Krystal tried to think about the ones she was taught and listed them down. When she
handed the list to Tsuki, the girl grimaced. "Wow. Hina knows more and sucks at seals." The
young girl and question looked at the list and mirrored her sister's expression.
"At least you know Soul Prison. That's pretty high level... but the rest are really
basic," Tsuki said, trying to mitigate the damage. Krystal sighed.
"Oh, it's alright! I'm sure you're good with spirit threads," Hina said. Krystal just
stared at them.
"Sorry if this sounds silly, but what are spirit threads?" The two girls exchanged
glances.
"How... how much instruction did you actually get?" Tsuki asked. "Spirit threads are
the most basic skill of exorcism. Hina is excellent at them and I'm actually a bit below
par, but... to not even know them?"
Krystal laughed and looked down. "I swear, I only got a few weeks and only an hour or
so a day. The guy was only there for a little while since he was a traveler, but uh..."
Krystal looked down at her sword. "He was really insistent about channeling energy into a
weapon so I'm quite good at that."
Tsuru jotted it down. "That's good, at least. Even though Hina loves weapons, she
still has a hard time doing that."
Krystal relaxed a bit as Tsuki set the notebook aside. "Well, it is the afternoon... I
was meditating since right now its break, but me and Hina can get you set up on making
spirit threads."
The two girls proceeded to lead Krystal to the humongous backyard and the blonde was
sure it doubled as their training grounds. Hina smiled at her. "I can show you what spirit
threads are - they're really easy!"
The young girl held up a hand and Krystal watched as holy energy manifested itself
into... well, threads. The threads proceeded wrap around Krystal's own hands and with a
flick of her wrist, Hina pulled Krystal over, as though they were strings.
She almost lost her balance from the tug so Tsuki gave Hina a disapproving look. "Now
that my little sister has shown them for you, I guess I should explain," the brunette said
as the threads disappeared. "They're used to subdue demons with their power and also as a
tool for movement, binding and in Hina's case, weapon throwing."
Krystal nodded and said, "So how do you make them? Do you just channel energy into
your hand?" The blonde woman allowed holy energy to fill her hand and Tsuki shook her head.
"Kind of... here..." The younger girl stepped behind her and Krystal found the
position quite awkward as Tsuki held her hand. "You have to force it into a thread like
shape and imagine it has limitless reach."
"O...okay..." Krystal focused and nothing happened. This was going to be a long day...
*****
Isaka gave Krystal a curious glance as she toyed with making spirit threads. Hina and
Tsuki could make multiple threads, but she was still trying to perfect making one. "I can't
believe how inept I actually am," the blonde murmured, looking over at her girlfriend. "They
said this is stuff for beginners."
The demon just gave her a small smile. "It's okay... but, it is kind of sad. I even
know what spirit threads are..." She pulled Krystal in a hug before continuing. "Actually, I
had to face a quite a few exorcists that were good at it. The threads never worked that well
on me, but it was still a pain in the ass. It's supposed to be a technique that also helps
with discipline."
Great. Her demon lover knew more even though Krystal was supposed to be the
exorcist...
*****
Krystal was trying to get used to her second day of training, but she could hear Hina
laughing at her from the top of the hill. "C'mon Krystal! What kind of exorcist doesn't have
stamina?" The first part of training was fitness... or so Hina had said before rocketing off
on a run around the property.
Tsuki had other things to attend to, so it was just the two of them. She trudged up
the hill, where Hina was sitting, playing with her spirit threads. "Now, you're going to
practice making threads and then try to tie them around the tree." The tree in question had
many marks and scars, presumably from Hina's own practice at threads.
Krystal focused on her one thread (somehow, she couldn't bring herself to make more)
and had it tie around the tree. It was languid and slow, causing Hina to laugh again. "Oh,
Krystal. You should be scared to hurt the tree... in fact..." The little girl looked up in
the sky, spotting a flock of geese.
Krystal's thread dispersed when she jerked back in surprise. Hina ensnared one of the
birds in her threads and pulled it down to the field. She smiled at Krystal, even with the
dying bird at her feet. "See? If you work hard enough, there won't be anything you can't
do!"
Her words went unheeded as Krystal kneeled down and began to heal the bird. "You can
heal things?" Krystal nodded, her attention mostly on the bird. "Oh, so you're practicing on
the bird?"
Hina's innocent question made Krystal shudder inside. "N...no! It's not right to kill
an animal like that for the sake of killing." The little girl seemed confused, but crouched
down next to it.
"But... it's just a bird."
Krystal gave her a small smile as the bird regained its footing and flew off. "Yes,
and we're just people."
Hina still didn't quite get what she meant.
*****
Hina insisted on running back and Krystal was lagging behind. It wasn't the length
that bothered her, it was the fact of how fast the little girl could go! Then again... if
she had to do this everyday... Her thoughts were cut of as she smelled something delicious.
Krystal caught up to Hina since she slowed to a walk and they entered the shrine
together. The young girl made a happy beeline to the kitchen where Tsuki was cooking
breakfast. The brunette turned around when they entered and Krystal's tired state wasn't
lost on her.
"I guess Hina's been making you run with her? She's a bit troublesome, huh?" Hina
pouted but sat down at the table.
"Oh no, it's perfectly fine. This training is probably good for me anyway." Krystal
also sat down and Tsuki brought over the food. It appeared to be some kind of oatmeal, fruit
and eggs. There were even some bits of meat to choose from.
"We don't actually buy that much food from the grocery store, so all this is home
grown. We usually just catch birds or rabbits, just so you know." Krystal nodded at Tsuki's
words and briefly thought of the goose Hina had nearly killed.
"Oh and some times we eat demon meat," Hina said as soon as Krystal had started
chewing on some of the mystery protein. Her eyes widened and she almost choked until Tsuki
reached over to hit her little sister on the head.
"Hina! What did I say about that terrible joke! Krystal, that's not true at all, she's
just being stupid."
She calmed down and swallowed. "O-oh... that's good, you almost had me there!" For the
rest of breakfast, she didn't touch the meat anymore and stuck to the fruit.
"Hey, hey, Tsuki!" Hina said, having recovered from the knock on the head she got a
few minutes earlier. "Krystal can heal things too!"
The brunette look surprised and swallowed the food in her mouth. "Really? That's great
- none of us have the ability to do that. I'm sure that will make big sister happy - oh!"
Tsuki sighed as if she just remembered something. "She dropped by to eat while you guys were
out... maybe you'll get to meet her around lunch time, then..."
*****
The next shift of training was with Tsuki. Hina was in another room, having to finish
her studies on different kinds of seals than the ones Tsuki was going to teach Krystal.
"Alright, you know most of the basic level ones, so let's try to teach you more complicated
stuff."
They were currently in another room of the house and Krystal started to feel
uncomfortable as Tsuki took off her long sleeved shirt. Beneath it, she was wearing a tank
top, but it was her right arm that Krystal found fascinating.
A series of black symbols were tattooed all over it, in an unrecognizable language.
"I'm actually still in training as well. These marks on my arm help me to control my power
and amplify my seals," Tsuki said. "Without them, I would have lots of trouble... I only use
them for high level stuff, like Seventh Seals and Heaven Arts."
All that went over Krystal's head, but she nodded as though she knew. "Alright," Tsuki
said. "Show me all the seals you know and then we can get you started on going up a level."
Krystal focused on each one, picturing the seal in her head and transferring her energy in
its form.
By the time she finished, she was startled by the look of utter surprise on Tsuki's
face. "Did... I ... do something wrong?" Krystal asked.
"What? N-no, it's just... all those seals are low level yet you somehow amplified them
so they were close to high level... maybe even Seventh Seal... you just made them way
stronger than they normally are," Tsuki said, looking at her with admiration.
"Oh... oh, I guess that's good-"
"Just imagine all the things you could do once you learn high level stuff! Let's get
started with mid level seals, like some more banishment and crescent arts."
So that was how Krystal got roped in to studying and practicing seals for the next
couple of hours...
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